UNO Beginning Birdwatching Field Trip #2

For the second field trip, we went to Barataria Preserve, which I’ve been to before, but again, the trail I normally go on is closed until late April, so it was a completely new area for me. More warbler and woodland birds, and we even spotted a barred owl, which I’d never seen before in the wild, so that was pretty exciting. Being the equal-opportunity critter watcher I am – there are some photos of other creatures!

A Barred Owl sleeping, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A water snake of some kind, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A green anole enjoying some sun, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A Downy Woodpecker, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A Chickadee, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A Red-Shouldered Hawk, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A frog in algae, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

Another sneaky snake, but we spotted him!, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A Northern Parula, that early migrant mentioned in Field trip #1 post, taking off from a branch – to be honest, many of my photos of this little bird were simply tailfeathers! Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

The same Northern Parula, and there’ll be one more photo as well just because he was so hard to keep track of to be able to photograph! Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

The same Northern Parula, taking off from the branch, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A Tufted Titmouse, one of those nondescript birds I couldn’t differentiate before, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A Blue-Headed Vireo, a bird I’d never seen before, with pretty white eye rings, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A Blue-Headed Vireo, perhaps a better view of the eye rings (but I confess to liking the previous photo much more! ), Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

After the class portion of the trip was over I stayed for another hour or so, checking out another trail with one of the folks I ran into out there. Most of these photos were taken with a smaller lens and me quite a bit closer to the subject…

A spider with googly eyes, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A yellow dragonfly, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

Another dragonfly (there were tons out that day), Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A cricket frog which is less than one inch long (thanks for the name, Alex), Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A green dragonfly which I’ve heard only lives 24 hours (does anyone know if it’s true dragonflies only live a day?), Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

A green dragonfly last one I promise – but I love how that bokeh (the blurred background) sets it off, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

On the way out of the park I saw what I thought was a Great Blue Heron out of the corner of my eye, just the drop side of a bridge. Since I’ve yet to get a decent photo of one, I pulled over and went as quietly as I could over to the guard rail. I had seen a bird, but when I got there, I startled a barred owl, who flew silently from a perch within ten feet of me(!) to a distance away on the far bank of the creek that ran under the bridge.
A Barred Owl near Bayou Coquille trailhead, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

Although it was exciting to see another owl, I confess “the corner of my eye” was wrong as far as the Great Blue Heron – it was Yellow Crowned Night Heron:

A Yellow Crowned Night Heron near Bayou Coquille trailhead, Barataria Preserve, Marrero, LA, 2009-Mar-21

All photos © Amy Friends Stone and all rights reserved.